NEWS BRIEFS

THE YEAR IN PREVIEW

We asked a few active individuals in the community to identify challenges for 2003 or make predictions for the year ahead. Their responses ranged from the personal to the political.

Judy Reeves, Gulf Coast Archive and Museum of GLBT History secretary:

The challenges are almost too numerous to mention, I think. The biggest one that faces us as a community is the realization that we are not a small, cohesive community in a tiny area of a large city. We are a huge contingency of human beings from all walks of life in all corners of this city, county, and state and that Montrose is not the capital of queersville! We will go nowhere and accomplish nothing until we realize that cooperation and caring are the paths to follow.

Alejandro Morua, principal of the Ripley House charter school:

1. The number of Hispanic elected officials will increase after the November 2003 elections.

2. 2003 will mark the year that Hispanics constitute 50 percent of the city’s population.

3. Annise Parker will become the city’s first openly elected lesbian controller.

4. We will go to war with Iraq in the first quarter of the new year.

5. Texas will face a severe economic crisis (thanks to the fiscally conservative elected Republican leadership) that will dramatically impact services to the poor and those in need.

6. There will be more antigay, anti-immigrant bills introduced into the Texas legislature.

Sue Null, Parents, Friends & Families of Lesbians & Gays-Houston stalwart:

Here are my wishes/challenges for 2003, and sadly, both have to do with funding:

1. I wish that the Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center would receive wider support from GLBT community members, especially from those who perhaps have no direct personal need for its services, but who could spare the funds to help it become a true community resource for those many people who could reap its benefits. I was startled to compare Dallas’ expansive facilities with the meager facilities and support that we have in

Houston.

2. I wish that the transgender shelter, like HLGCC, would not be constantly on the brink of financial disaster. Basically, where are the caring people? Sometimes I despair and wonder if too many people confine their social concerns to their computer keyboards and their financial donations to a piece of finery without considering the real needs of the community.

Jerry Simoneaux, Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston president:

In the summer of 2003, the Supreme Court will find that the Texas Homosexual Conduct Law is unconstitutional because is violates the Equal Protection Clause. This will spark a very heated debate over marriage laws that allow state recognition of unions comprised only of opposite-sex couples. Before the end of 2003, someone will take a state marriage law before the U.S. Supreme Court arguing violation of equal protection.

Rev. Janet Parker, minister of Maranatha Fellowship Metropolitan Community Church:

Maybe it is the circle of people that I spend my time with, but I see the GLBT community going forward and making great strides in 2003. In my own corner of the world, I desire to see the community as a whole come together—where we work together, play together, learn and grow together.

If I can do this where I live and work, maybe others can do the same. I want my life not to just be about being a lesbian, but about being a person with moral values, talents and gifts to share—and most of all a person who is spiritual, with God at the center of my life. I have a lot to give back to society, and by doing this I believe the “homosexual issue” may not become as important as one thought it was.

Phyllis Randolph Frye, attorney and transgender warrior:

In 2003 we will see an unfolding of a hold-all-the-aces conservative agenda in the appointment of judges and regulators and in the passing of statutes that will take decades to undo. The only way for the GLBT community to survive this is for us to keep coming out of the closet in higher numbers to make this personal.

Paul Guillory, Men’s Gathering discussion and support group moderator:

I think that there are many challenges that prevent same-sex relationships from being successful. There seems to be an unwritten expectation that it’s OK to cheat on your partner. Many times this is discussed, but most of the time it is not. Coupled with this is the inability to be honest. Since many relationships start with sex, the foundation of many relationships remains weak, and as they develop, the “drama” intensifies. I don’t see this improving until the way that many gay men were socialized is addressed, along with the issue of possible “sex addiction.”

Brenda Thomas, transgender activist:

There are many challenges that face the GLBT community in the upcoming year: the increase in HIV and STDs within the gay community, the possibility of the loss of statewide funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), fundraising and financial support for so many organizations that are so in need, and the current political climate that engulfs not only Houston, but our nation as a whole. This is going to be a year that all of us will have to spend a little extra time and energy to keep our community from being ravaged.

ALL IN THE GAME

On January 24, JR’s Bar & Grill will host a launch party for Gayopoly, the just-released board game. The playing field includes stops in eight major gay cities, including Houston destinations Lobo Bookshop & Café, Pacific Street, Rich’s, and South Beach. Players navigate the board with plastic cell phones and rainbow dice. Beware the Diva Detour Card. Draw it and you may have to sing. For details on the JR’s event: www.gayopoly.com.

GROUPS MARK KING HOLIDAY

• To mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, two Episcopal congregations and Integrity, the organization for GLBT Episcopalians, will host two days of worship and discussion. On Sunday, January 19, St. Stephen’s Episcopal will hold a 6 p.m. service led by Dr. Louie Crew, the founder of Integrity. St. James Episcopal will host a dinner and discussion on Sunday, January 20, led by Dr. Crew and the Rev. Paul Abernathy, who is the rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Abernathy will then preach and celebrate communion at a 7:30 p.m. service. Lisa Pearson and Victor Schill are co-chairs of the weekend events. For more information, contact Sharon Hamman, 281/241-0590, or Muffie Moroney, 713/622-2255.

• On January 20, the Houston Black GLBT Coalition and the Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center will co-host an evening of readings and music in honor of Dr. King, featuring Aaron Coleman. The event will begin at 7 p.m. at the community center.

OH, MARY

As press time neared, Mary’s closed. One of the two oldest surviving gay clubs in Houston, Mary’s had become more than a Montrose bar. The place was an institution. Only days later, OutSmart learned that Michael Gaitz, the owner of the Outpost, had acquired and opened Mary’s. A January 12 re-opening party is planned.

NATIONAL AIDS GROUP BRINGS TRAINING WORKSHOPS TO HOUSTON

The National Minority AIDS Council will host five days of training sessions for Houston HIV/AIDS service groups and advocates on February 3–7. The event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown will focus on HIV-treatment updates, fundraising, board development, media training, and other issues. A two-day session will deal with the Ryan White Care Act.

There is no fee to participate in the sessions. For registration and details: www.nmac.org or Faisal Alam at 800/653-8144.

The National Minority AIDS Council, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the nation's largest organization working with communities of color in the war against HIV/AIDS.

If you have any comments about this article, please email them to letters@outsmartmagazine.com.